Process of preserving fish.



. medium-sized boiler .for

zen of thefUnited States, 'Water street, in St. J ohns, in the islandof' Newfoundland, have invented a new and userovement in Processes of Preserving I UNITED STATES PATENT oFrIoE.

WALTER LAMB, OF ST. JOHNS, NEWFOUNDLAND.

' PRocEss OF PRESERVING FISH.

I No. 827,452.

To all whom .it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER LAMB, a citiresiding at No. 222

ful Im Fish, 0 which the following is a specification. This invention is an improved rocess of preserving fish by which I am enab ed to pro-. duce a food of desirable flavor containing all of the nutritiousness of fresh fish in adigestible form. It can be manufactured in very large quantities at very little expense and will keep in a perfect state of preservation in all climates. In carrying my invention into practice, I proceed as follows: The fish are eheaded andeviscerated and subjected to the action of steam soon after being taken from the water. I use a cabinet and a series of long pans in steaming the fish, and with a I generating steam a half ton of fish can be cooked every one and a half hours. When the fish are cooked, they are divested of the-skin and bones and put into a solution of salt of sufficientstrength to preserve them. Sea-water to which salt has been added is preferable on account of the peculiar appetizing flavor which it gives to the fish. Other preservatives can be added to the sea-water, if desired. After the fish has taken up enough salt to preserve it it is packed in barrels or other receptacles, large or small, and is ready for shipment. It can be sent in a comparatively dry state or in a sufficient amount of the salt solution to cover it and to fill the small spaces between the masses of fish.

There are severaldistinct advantages in this method of fish preservation, among Which is the conservation of the nutritious part of the fish. During the process of cooking the albuminous part is all coagulated and is rendered insoluble to the action of the reserving solution, Whereas in the old met 0d of preserving fish in salt solution the fish being treated in a raw state admits of the albuminous'part being dissolved' and soaked out both during the process of preservation and also in the process of removing the salt for preparation for the table. Another important point is that when fish are cooked and Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 26, 1905. Serial No. 280,241.

Patented July 31, 1906.

afterward preserved in a salt solution the fibrinous part does not become indurated and rendered indigestible, whereas the opposite occurs in fish tissue that is salted when ina raw state.

It will be observed that in this process no canning is required. Cooked fish has heretofore been preserved by being hermetically sealed in small packages. This method, apart from its expense, has its disadvantages in remote parts of the seacoast and where fish are caught in large quantities in nets and traps and require quick attention. By steamin the catch and putting it in barrels of salt so ution for preservation a few men can,

handle enormous quantities in a few hours.

To pre are this fish product for the table, it is boifdd for a few minutes in a given quantity of water to eliminate the right quantity of salt.

It is then ready to be made into fish-cakes and other dishes known to the culinary art.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is I 1. The method of preserving fish, which consists in beheading and eviscerating the fresh fish, then thoroughly cookingthe same until all of the albuminous matter is coagulated to render it insoluble in brine, afterward immersing the fish in a saline solution to inipre nate them sufficiently for preservation, t en removing the fish, acking the same in a receptacle, and filling 1n the interstices witha reservative.

2. T e method of preserving fish which con-- sists in beheading and eviscera'ting the fresh fish, then steaming the fish until all of the albuminous matter is coagulated, then removing the skin and bones, then immersing the product in sea-water to which salt has been added, then removing the fish from said solution, and then packing the product in a preservative for shipment, making hermeticsealing unnecessary. WALTER LAMB.

Witnesses:

MAY OMARA, J FITZGERALD. 

